A procedure for estimating the total life in fretting fatigue

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a procedure for estimating the total fatigue life in fretting fatigue. It separately analyses the fatigue crack initiation and propagation lives. The correlation between crack initiation and propagation is made considering a non‐arbitrary crack initiation length provided by the model. The number of cycles to initiate a crack is obtained from the stress distribution beneath the contact zone and a multiaxial fatigue crack initiation criterion. The propagation of the crack is considered using different fatigue crack propagation laws, including some modifications in order to take the short crack growth into account. The results obtained by this method are compared with the fatigue lives obtained in various fretting fatigue tests under spherical contact with 7075‐T6 aluminium alloy.     

A modification of UniGrow 2‐parameter driving force model for short fatigue crack growth

In this paper, a modification of the UniGrow model is proposed to predict total fatigue life with the presence of a short fatigue crack by incorporating short crack propagation into the UniGrow crack growth model. The UniGrow model is modified by 2 different methods, namely the “short crack stress intensity correction method” and the “short crack data‐fitting method” to estimate the total fatigue life including both short and long fatigue crack propagations. Predicted fatigue lives obtained from these 2 methods were compared with experimental data sets of 2024‐T3, 7075‐T56 aluminium alloys, and Ti‐6Al‐4V titanium alloy. Two proposed methods have shown good fatigue life predictions at relatively high maximum stresses; however, they provide conservative fatigue life predictions at lower stresses corresponding high cycle fatigue lives where short crack behaviour dominates total fatigue life at lower stress levels.     

Fatigue crack growth in 7249‐T76511 aluminium alloy under constant‐amplitude and spectrum loading

Fatigue crack growth tests were conducted on compact, C(T), specimens made of 7249‐T76511 aluminium alloy. These tests were conducted to generate crack growth rate data from threshold to near fracture over a wide range of load ratios (R). Four methods were used to generate near threshold data: (1) ASTM E‐647 load reduction (LR), (2) compression pre‐cracking constant‐amplitude (CPCA), (3) compression pre‐cracking LR, and (4) constant crack mouth opening displacement LR method. A crack closure analysis was used to develop an effective stress‐intensity factor range against rate relation using a constraint factor (α = 1.85). Simulated aircraft wing spectrum tests were conducted on middle crack tension, M(T), specimens using a modified full‐scale fatigue test spectrum. The tests were used to develop the constraint‐loss regime (plane strain to plane stress; α = 1.85 to 1.15) behaviour. Comparisons were made between the spectrum tests and calculations made with the FASTRAN life prediction code; and the calculated crack growth lives were generally with ±10% of the test results.     

Fatigue of casting flaws at a notch root under an SAE service load history

Smooth and notched specimens of a 319 cast aluminium alloy were fatigue tested under a Society of Automotive Engineers service load history in the as-cast and hipped conditions. The hipping process, which includes subjecting the cast material to a high pressure at high temperature and then slowly cooling down to eliminate internal flaws, decreased the flaw size and improved the fatigue life of cast Al 319 smooth specimens. A 0.6-mm-diameter hole was drilled at the notch root of notched specimens to simulate a natural flaw at the notch root. Specimens with two different notch sizes were tested. Circular edge notches reduced the fatigue strength and a 0.6-mm-diameter drilled hole at the notch root resulted in a further reduction.
The fatigue lives of smooth specimens, notched specimens and notched specimens with a flaw at the notch root subjected to the service load history were predicted using the strain-life approach, an effective strain-life approach and a strain-based intensity factor crack growth model. In crack growth modelling of the fatigue life of smooth cast aluminium specimens the flaw was modelled as a circular edge notch having the same diameter as the flaw. However, in the case of a flaw at a notch root the flaw was modelled as a three-dimensional cavity subjected to the notch stress field and the crack length was predicted in the longitudinal and transverse directions of the specimen cross-section. The strain-life approach was unconservative for all specimen geometries studied. The effective strain-life approach gave good predictions for smooth and blunt notched specimens but gave very conservative predictions for the specimens with flaws in the notch roots. The crack growth calculations gave accurate predictions for all the specimen geometries.     

Effects of Shot‐Peening on Fretting Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior in Ti‐6Al‐4V

Abstract: The effects of shot‐peening on fretting fatigue crack growth behaviour in titanium alloy, Ti‐6A1‐4V were investigated. Three shot‐peening intensities: 4A, 7A and 10A were considered. The analysis involved the fracture mechanics and finite element sub‐modelling technique to estimate crack propagation lives. These computations were supplemented with the experimentally measured total fretting fatigue lives of laboratory specimens to assess the crack initiation lives. Shot‐peening has significant effect on the initiation/propagation phases of fretting fatigue cracks; however this effect depends upon the shot‐peening intensity. The ratio of crack initiation and total life increased while the ratio of the crack propagation and total life decreased with an increase of shot‐peening intensity. Effects of residual compressive stress from shot‐peening on the crack growth behaviour were also investigated. The fretting fatigue crack propagation component of the total life with relaxation increased in comparison to its counterpart without relaxation in each shot‐peened intensity case while the initiation component decreased. Improvement in the fretting fatigue life from the shot‐peening and also with an increase in the shot‐peening intensity appears to be not always due to increase in the crack initiation resistance from shot‐peened induced residual compressive stress.     

Prediction of corrosion fatigue lives of aluminium alloy on the basis of corrosion pit growth law

Tension‐compression and rotating‐bending fatigue tests were carried out using aluminium alloy 2024‐T3, in 3% NaCl solution. The corrosion pit growth characteristics, and also the fatigue crack initiation and propagation behaviour were investigated in detail. The results obtained are summarized as follows: (i) Most of corrosion fatigue life (60–80%) is occupied with a period of corrosion pit growth at low‐stress amplitude. The corrosion pit growth law can be expressed as functions of stress amplitude σ_a and an elapsed time t. (ii) The critical stress intensity factor for crack initiation from the corrosion pit was determined as 0.25 . This value is the same as the threshold stress intensity factor range for crack propagation. (iii) Corrosion fatigue life can be estimated on the basis of corrosion pit growth law and crack propagation law. The estimated fatigue lives agree well with the experimental data.     

Fatigue crack initiation and growth in AlMg4.5Mn butt weldments

The fatigue life of full-penetration and partial-penetration 5 and 25  mm thickness AlMg4.5Mn (AA5083) aluminium alloy butt weldments was investigated under ( R = 0 and R = − 1) constant amplitude loading. The fatigue lives of the tested specimens were predicted using an analytical model which estimated both the crack initiation and crack growth portions of the total fatigue life. The fatigue life of partial-penetration weldments was found to be substantially less than that of full-penetration weldments because of the greater stress concentrations of the incomplete joint penetration and the consequent absence of a substantial crack-initiation life period. Tensile mean stresses ( R = 0 versus R = − 1-test conditions) markedly reduced the fatigue life of the weldments studied and greatly diminished the duration of the fatigue crack growth period. The extra material provided by the weld reinforcement noticeably increased the fatigue life of the partial-penetration weldments. Weld angular distortion-induced bending stresses greatly affected the smaller thickness (5  mm) full-penetration weldments offsetting the fatigue strength bonus anticipated for small-size weldments. Except for the predictions for R = − 1 full-penetration weldments at long life, which the analytical model underestimated, the agreement between experiment and analytical prediction was within a factor of 2, that is, as good as can be generally expected.     

Retardation effects due to overloads in aluminium‐alloy aeronautical components

Fatigue data are generally derived under constant‐amplitude loading conditions, but aircraft components are subjected to variable‐amplitude loading. Without interaction effects, caused by overloads and underloads intermingled in a loading sequence, it could be relatively easy to establish a crack growth curve by means of a cycle‐by‐cycle integration. However, load‐spectrum effects largely complicate a crack growth under variable‐amplitude cycling. In this paper, fatigue crack growth behaviour of aeronautical aluminium alloy 2024‐T3 was studied. Effects of various loading conditions such as stress ratio and amplitude loadings were investigated. In particular, the effect of different overloads on the fatigue crack growth was simulated using Zencrack code. Preliminary analyses on Compact Tension (CT) specimens proved that the numerical results generated were in agreement with the results provided by an afgrow code for the same conditions. A case study was carried out on a helicopter component, undergoing repeated overloads, to compare numerical results obtained implementing yield zone models in Zencrack.     

SMALL CRACK GROWTH AND FATIGUE LIFE PREDICTIONS FOR HIGH-STRENGTH ALUMINIUM ALLOYS: PART I—EXPERIMENTAL AND FRACTURE MECHANICS ANALYSIS

The small crack effect was investigated in two high-strength aluminium alloys: 7075-T6 bare and LC9cs clad alloy. Both experimental and analytical investigations were conducted to study crack initiation and growth of small cracks. In the experimental program, fatigue tests, small crack and large crack tests were conducted under constant amplitude and Mini-TWIST spectrum loading conditions. A pronounced small crack effect was observed in both materials, especially for the negative stress ratios. For all loading conditions, most of the fatigue life of the SENT specimens was shown to be crack propagation from initial material defects or from the cladding layer. In the analysis program, three-dimensional finite element and weight function methods were used to determine stress intensity factors and to develop SIF equations for surface and corner cracks at the notch in the SENT specimens. A plasticity-induced crack-closure model was used to correlate small and large crack data, and to make fatigue life predictions. Predicted crack-growth rates and fatigue lives agreed well with experiments. A total fatigue life prediction method for the aluminium alloys was developed and demonstrated using the crack-closure model.     

The effect of pitting corrosion on fatigue life

Fatigue testing of pre‐pitted 2024‐T3 aluminium alloy specimens is performed in laboratory air at 22 °C and 40% RH to characterize the effect of pitting corrosion on fatigue life. Specimens, pre‐corroded in a 0.5 M NaCl solution from 48 to 384 h, have fatigue lives that are reduced by more than one order of magnitude after 384 h pre‐corrosion as compared to those of uncorroded specimens. The reduction in fatigue life is interpreted in terms of the influence of the time of exposure to the corrosive environment or pit size. The crack‐nucleating pit sizes, ranging from 20 to 70 μm, are determined from post‐fracture examinations by scanning electron microscopy. Fatigue lives are estimated using a fracture mechanics approach and are shown to be in good agreement with the actual data. A probabilistic analysis shows that the distribution of fatigue life is strongly correlated to the distribution in nucleating pit size.     

A low cycle fatigue model of a short-fibre reinforced 6061 aluminium alloy metal matrix composite

A low cycle fatigue model has been developed to predict the fatigue life of both the unreinforced aluminium alloy and the short-fibre reinforced aluminium alloy metal-matrix composites based solely on crack propagation from microstructural features. In this approach a crack is assumed to initiate and grow from a microstructural feature on the first cycle. The model assumes that there is a fatigue-damaged zone ahead of the crack tip within which the actual degradation of the material takes place. The low-cycle fatigue crack growth and the condition for failure are controlled by the amount of cyclic plasticity generated within the fatigue-damaged zone ahead of the crack tip and by the ability of the short fibres to constrain this cyclic plasticity. The fatigue crack growth rate is directly correlated to the range of crack-tip opening displacement. The empirical Coffin–Manson and Basquin laws have been derived theoretically and applied to compare with total-strain controlled low-cycle fatigue life data obtained on the unreinforced 6061 aluminium alloy at 25 °C and on the aluminium alloy AA6061 matrix reinforced with Al₂O₃ Saffil short-fibres of a volume fraction of 20 vol.% and test temperatures from −100 to 150 °C. The proposed model can give predicted fatigue lives in good agreement with the experimental total-strain controlled fatigue data at both high strain low-cycle fatigue and low strain high-cycle fatigue regime. It is remarkable that the addition of high-strength Al₂O₃ fibres in the 6061 aluminium alloy matrix will not only strengthen the microstructure of the 6061 aluminium alloy, but also channel deformation at the tip of a crack into the matrix regions between the fibres and therefore constrain the plastic deformation in the matrix. The overall expected effect is therefore the reduction of the fatigue ductility.     

MODELING THE LONG-LIFE FATIGUE BEHAVIOR OF A CAST ALUMINUM ALLOY

As-cast specimens and smooth specimens of a AA 319 cast aluminum alloy containing casting porosity were fatigue tested with special attention given to the long-life region ( N 1.25 × 10⁸ cycles). Fatigue cracks were observed to initiate from the near-surface casting pores or from discontinuities resulting from the as-cast surface texture. The observed fatigue lives were strongly dependent on the size (√area) of these casting defects.
The effect of casting defects on the fatigue life was modeled assuming the fatigue life to be the sum of the crack nucleation and the crack propagation life (including both the growth of short and long cracks). The crack growth behavior of (mechanically) short cracks was considered in detail by a developed crack-closure-at-a-notch (CCN) model. The CCN model predicted the fatigue lives for both as-cast and machine-notched specimens. Extension of the CCN model to reliability-based design was attempted using the measured size distribution of the fatigue-initiating casting pores.     

Effect of salt-water fog on fatigue crack growth behaviour of 7050 aluminium alloy in different orientations

The fatigue crack growth behaviour of 7050 T73651 high strength aluminium alloy that was originally developed for the aircraft industry was investigated in this study. The tests were conducted by using C-T specimens machined in six orientations under the action of constant amplitude sinusoidal load cycles. The tests were first carried out in laboratory air and then repeated in salt-water fog of a 5% NaCl solution to observe the effect of the environment on the fatigue crack growth behaviour. The experimental results showed that the fatigue life, maximum stress intensity range and the fatigue crack growth rate of the specimens were seriously affected by the environment. The severity of the effect, on the other hand, was observed to be dependent on the orientation. The strongest orientation was determined to be L-S, while the weakest was S-L.     

A MODIFIED FRACTURE MECHANICS APPROACH TO METAL FATIGUE

The fatigue lives, the fatigue limit stress ranges and fatigue notch factors for metallic specimens can be predicted using a modified fracture mechanics model for short cracks based on the combination of solutions for the non-uniform strains at the surface of a metal and the development of crack closure. The resulting local stress intensity factor exceeds that indicated by linear elastic fracture mechanics at short crack lengths. The model predicts a smooth and continuous variation of the fatigue notch factor with notch size between a lower bound of unity and an upper bound equal to the theoretical notch stress concentration factor. The model is verified using experimental data for a 2024-T351 aluminium alloy for smooth and notched specimens tested at various stress ratios.     

Mixed-mode fatigue crack growth analysis of functionally graded materials by XFEM

The present study investigates the fatigue life of a functionally graded material (FGM) made of aluminum alloy and alumina (ceramic) under cyclic mixed mode loading. The fatigue lives of aluminum alloy, FGM and an equivalent composite (having the same composition as of FGM) are compared for a major edge crack in the rectangular domain. The extended finite element method is used to simulate the fatigue crack growth under plane strain conditions. Various discontinuities such as minor cracks, holes and inclusions of arbitrary sizes are randomly located in the domain along with the major edge crack. Paris law is used to evaluate the fatigue life of the aluminium alloy, FGM and equivalent composite.     

Fatigue crack growth in hybrid boron/glass/aluminium fibre metal laminates

The crack growth behaviour of hybrid boron/glass/aluminium fibre metal laminates (FMLs) under constant‐amplitude fatigue loading was investigated. The hybrid FMLs consist of Al 2024‐T3 alloy as the metal layers and a mixture of boron fibres and glass fibres as the fibre layers. Two types of boron/glass/aluminium laminates were fabricated and tested. In the first type, the glass fibre/prepreg and the boron fibre/prepreg were used separately in the fibre layers, and in the second type, the boron fibres and the glass fibres were uniformly mingled together to form a hybrid boron fibre/glass fibre prepreg. An analytical model was also proposed to predict the fatigue crack growth behaviour of hybrid boron/glass/aluminium FMLs. The effective stress intensity factor at a crack tip was formulated as a function of the remote stress intensity factor, crack opening stress intensity factor, and the bridging stress intensity factor. The bridging stress acting on the delamination boundary along the crack length was also calculated based on the crack opening relations. Then, the empirical Paris‐type fatigue crack growth law was used for predicting the crack growth rates. A good correlation between the predicted and experimental crack growth rates has been obtained.     

A comparison of fatigue crack growth performance of two aerospace grade aluminium alloys reinforced with bonded crack retarders

To improve the fail‐safety performance of integral metallic structures, the bonded crack retarder concept has been developed in recent years. This paper presents an experimental investigation on the effectiveness of bonded crack retarder on fatigue crack growth life in two aerospace aluminium alloys: 2624‐T351 and 7085‐T7651. M(T) specimens bonded with a pair of straps made of GLARE fibre‐metal laminate were tested under the constant amplitude load. Although the bonded crack retarders increased the crack growth life in both alloys, the magnitude of life improvement is very different between them. Compared to unreinforced specimens, application of crack retarders has resulted in 90% increase in fatigue life in AA7085, but only 27% increase in AA2624. The significant difference in fatigue life improvement is owing to the material's intrinsic fatigue crack growth rate property, ie, the Paris law constants C and n. Value of n for AA7085 is 1.8 times higher than that for AA2624. Therefore, AA7085 is much more sensitive to reductions in the effective stress intensity factor brought by the crack retarders, hence better life improvement.     

Round robin on creep fatigue crack growth testing for verification of ASTM standard 2760-10

Abstract

This paper presents early results from an ongoing round robin study to verify the newly developed ASTM standard E-2760-10 on creep fatigue crack growth testing. This round robin is an international effort with 18 participants from 11 countries from Asia, North America and Europe. All participants are testing compact type, C(T) specimens according to the procedure described in the standard. The test material is P91 taken from a section of retired steam pipe that was heat treated to rejuvenate the microstructure. All background materials data such as tensile, creep deformation and creep fatigue crack formation data are already available on the test material. Creep fatigue crack growth testing was conducted as part of a pilot program at 625°C using C(T) specimens under constant load amplitude conditions at two load levels. The tests are conducted at hold times of 0, 60 and 600 s. Creep fatigue crack growth rates are analysed using the two methods included as part of the test standard. The data from the various participants will be assessed to determine the expected levels of precision and bias in creep fatigue crack growth data obtained using the ASTM standard. Modifications to the current version of the standard will be proposed and balloted as needed from the round robin results.     

Off-axis fatigue cracking behaviour in notched fibre metal laminates

The off‐axis fatigue cracking behaviour of notched fibre metal laminates under constant amplitude loading conditions was investigated experimentally and numerically. It was found that the off‐axis fatigue crack initiation life decreased as the off‐axis angles increased. This indicated that the off‐axis laminates raised the applied stress level in the aluminium (Al) layer and subsequently resulted in earlier cracking in the Al layer. The off‐axis fatigue crack initiation lives of notched fibre metal laminates were predicted using lamination theory and an energy‐based critical plane fatigue damage analysis from the literature. After a crack initiated in the Al layer, it was observed that the crack path angles of the off‐axis specimens were neither perpendicular to the fibre nor to the loading direction. A finite‐element model was established for predicting the crack path angles.     

The fatigue crack growth rate in L-72 Al-alloy plate specimens with cold worked holes

A fatigue crack growth rate study has been carried out on L-72 aluminium alloy plate specimens with and without cold worked holes. The cold worked specimens showed significantly increased fatigue life compared to unworked specimens. Computer software is developed to evaluate the stress intensity factor for non-uniform stress distributions using Green's function approach. The exponents for the Paris equation in the stable crack growth region for cold worked and unworked specimens are 1.26 and 3.15 respectively. The reduction in exponent value indicates the retardation in crack growth rate. An SEM study indicates more plastic deformation at the edge of the hole for unworked samples as compared to the worked samples during the crack initiation period.